مدیریت پرتفوی پروژه های "تحقیق و توسعه": مفاهیم برای مدیریت نوآوری

Globalization of markets and new business practices are prompting high-tech firms to reconsider their competitive strategy. The increasing complexity of technologies in addition to shorter product life cycles are also forcing firms to rely on R&D as a source of strategy. More importantly, firms are inclined to evaluate their technologies from a portfolio's perspective in which a set or a sub-set of R&D projects is evaluated together, in relation to each other. Portfolio techniques can help strategic managers in evaluating whether a portfolio of products is adequate from the perspective of long-term corporate growth and profitability. Obviously, when R&D projects are evaluated relative to one another, technical capability management of such projects must be carried out concurrently. In this paper, R&D Project Portfolio Matrix is used as a tool for analyzing a portfolio of R&D projects by linking competitive advantages of a firm to benefits these projects may provide to customers. Examples of batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are provided to illustrate how such a matrix is used, and some of the implications for innovation management of such projects.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the area of portfolio management of R&D projects. Portfolio matrices have been used by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), McKinsey, and others (Abell and Hammond, 1979) to characterize product–market alternatives in terms of the attractiveness of the market, growth rate of the market, and the ability to create a distinctive advantage, such as high market share and competitive leadership of a firm's own projects. The portfolio approach to R&D management points out the different cash flow implications and requirements of different projects. Also worth mentioning is the graphic presentation of the projects, allowing managers to identify relevant adjustments with respect to the composition of a company's portfolio.

The increasing complexity of technologies and new business practices in addition to globalization of markets are forcing many firms to rely on R&D as a source of strategy for long-term growth and sustainability. Firms are also inclined to evaluate their technologies from a portfolio's perspective in which a set or a subset of R&D projects is evaluated together. When projects are evaluated in relation to crucial technologies, technological knowledge management of such projects can be carried out concurrently. In this paper, the R&D Project Portfolio Matrix was used as a tool to analyze a portfolio of R&D projects by linking competitive advantages of a firm to benefits these projects may provide to customers. The matrix highlighted its special role in systematic R&D project selection, market and technological dynamics of projects, identifying risks and gaps to be fulfilled, and prioritization with respect to investment allocation. The matrix also forces managers to have a long-term perspective of R&D projects by guiding them to evaluate such projects in a balanced-portfolio approach.